Several Fighters impress at UFC 107, Big Country is TUF king, more injuries change UFC cards and tons of news

UFC 107 took place this past Saturday from Memphis, TN. In the main event Diego ‘Nightmare’ Sanchez challenged ‘The Prodigy’ BJ Penn for the lightweight title. Diego was coming off an impressive win over Clay Guida in a strong fight of the year candidate. Since dropping down to lightweight he’d gone undefeated in 3 fights. BJ went into the fight following a 4th round submission victory of Kenny Florian. Baby Jay showed improved conditioning and overall control throughout the fight.

This fight was an extremely one-sided. In all my years of watching MMA I’ve never seen someone look so bad after a fight. Right as the fight began BJ put Diego on the canvas with a counter right. BJ attempted to pound him out but Diego was resilient and able to withstand the early flurry. Baby Jay controlled the entire round with his incredible boxing. I’m not going to run down every round because it was the same story throughout. The most damage Penn received was smacking himself in the face after the fight. I give Sanchez all the credit in the world. He has an incredible amount of drive and heart. Most people would have given up much sooner while taking this severe of a beating. Hell, Penn did when he was getting dominated by Georges St. Pierre. If anything, Diego can come away from this fight knowing that he went nearly five rounds with the greatest lightweight ever and did not break. The end came when half way through the final round Penn landed a rare head kick that opened a HUGE gash on Nightmare’s forehead. I don’t know who will be taking on BJ next for the 155 pound title but they better be prepared to pay their health insurance premium because some bodily damage is in their future

In a heavyweight contenders fight Cheick Kongo took on Frank Mir. Mir came in sporting a beefy new physique, a result of a new muscle building program. Kongo had hopes of teaching Frank a lesson for running his mouth leading up to the fight. This fight was over as fast as it started. Frank rocked Kongo with a powerful left and then synched in a guillotine choke and put the large Frenchman to sleep in one minute and twelve seconds. Mr. Mir earned himself the official “2nd round submission Certified Ass Kicker Award”. Mir and his extra muscles are looking for another shot at Lesnar. As to whether that happens is anyone’s guess. Well see how things shake out in the upcoming weeks with the heavyweight division.

Kenny ‘Kenflo’ Florian faced off against Clay ‘The Carpenter in another featured contest. Kenny Florian is one of those guys who will always be at the top of the division but currently not a contender for BJ’s title. Clay Guida is UFC’s go-to guy for an exciting fight. He’s a lunatic in the cage. If you have not seen his fights against Diego Sanchez or Roger Huerta go watch them now. I mean it, Go! In the first round both men busted their opponent open. Guida cut Kenflo from top position using ground and pound. Florian created a huge gash on top of The Carpenter’s head with a vicious Kenflo Hellbow. As the round went on Florian began to impose his will. He picked Guida apart with his boxing and scored a big takedown late in the frame. The second round some Kenny continued to show is dominance. With his much improved boxing Kenflo was able to land several punches to keep Guida at bay. Eventually Florian landed a counter right hook that dropped Clay. Before long he had taken Guida’s back and locked in a rear naked choke for the submission. Very impressive win for Kenny. Results from the other fights:

On December 5th we witnessed the conclusion of TUF 10 along with some other exciting matchups. The finals of the tournament featured former IFL champion and resident UFC fat boy Roy “Big Country” Nelson taking on former football standout Brendan “The Hybrid” Schaub. Big Country came in holding a clear advantage in terms of experience and ground game while Schaub was the stronger and quicker of the two. Early on Brendan established his jab, landed some power punches and stuffed a take down attempt. Nelson then scored with strong strikes and took down “The Hybrid” with a trip. At this point Roy worked towards the most over finisher in MMA today, the crucifix with punches. He was able to secure side control but couldn’t pin down Schaub’s arm. With a little hip movement and a lot of desire Brenda got off his back to the delight of many fans in attendance. When back on their feet both threw punches with bad intentions. Roy stepped forward with a lead jab then BLASTED Brendan with a huge right hand to the temple. Game, set, match Nelson. Roy Nelson is not only a skilled fighter but a great entertainer. He started his performance by coming to the ring to the Weird Al Yankovic’s song “Fat”. Then following the final punch of the fight he scaled the octagon wall, perched himself like a canary and rub his massive belly. In the post fight interview he claimed himself to be just a fat guy and stated his desire for some Burger King (TUF 10 sponsor). One thing I think UFC missed in terms of putting over this big bellied man, before the fight they showed training videos of both fighters preparing for the fight. Brendan Schaub was showing running hills, lifting weights flipping tires and pretty much everything else you’d expect. Following this I think it would have been brilliant to show Roy training for the fight by eating. Burger King, pizza, chicken, chips, anything he could get his hands on. UFC production, in case you’re reading, feel free to use this idea next time.

One of the headline bouts of the show was Kimbo Slice taking on Houston Alexander. Everyone expected this to be a slugfest that wouldn’t last long. Well it certainly was not. I’m not even going to speak on the first round, it sucked. In the second round we finally saw some action. The two brawlers start throwing bombs at each other. They clenched and Kimbo got a take down into full mount. Alexander was able to quickly get back to his feet. Slice then caught him with a strong right hand after a slip and did damage as both men were on the cage. He then brought Houston down with a big Sambo suplex, got the hooks in and took his back. Kimbo attempted an ugly rear naked choke. I know he’s a novice when it comes to jiu jitsu but anyone familiar with MMA could have applied a more effective choke then this. Regardless of that he took this round with force. The third stanza once again started with fighters circling then engaged with heavy hands. Alexander kept working the leg kicks and was even able to sweep the bearded one’s leg and bring him down. Once back to his feet scored a take and gained side control. Due to lack of action the two fighters were stopped and the action was restarted on their feet. This was a close round but I think Kimbo may have won it with the take down and dominant position. The judges scored this one 29-28, 29-28, 30-27 all for the winner Kimbo Slice.

Up and comer Jon ‘Bones’ Jones went head to head with Matt ‘The Hammer’ Hammill in a light heavyweight contest. The two fighters exchanged strikes in the early going. Hammill moved forward attempting a clinch and Jones took him down with a forceful leg trip. From there he moved from side controll into full and began pounding away on The Hammer. Bones continued to throw elbows and punches, some defended and some landing. Jones was looking for the ref to step in a stop the fight but when he did not he began throwing 12 to 6 elbows (arm perpendicular to the ground coming down to the opponent). These are illegal in UFC and referee Steve Mazaggatti stepped in a penalized Jones a point. Since Matt was unable to continue the fight was called to and end. At this point everyone thought Jones won, including the announcers, the crowd, Jon Jones, and myself. WRONG. It was announced that the winner by disqualification was Matt Hammill. Win or Loss, Bones Jones put on a dominant performance and will grow from this outcome.

Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz will serve as coaches for The Ultimate Fighter season 11. TUF 11 will feature middleweights

Dan Henderson has signed with Strikeforce. His first match is rumored to be against Jake Shields for the Middleweight title

Carlos Condit has pulled out of his UFC 108 match up against Paul Daley. When Daley heard of this news he called Condit a “big (another name for cat)”. Dustin Hazlett has stepped in to fill his place.

UFC will air up to 4 fight nights on WEC in 2010

With Antonio Rogerio Noguiera getting injured, now Jon Jones vs Brendan Vera is expected to headline the first UFC show on Versus on March 21

Shane Carwin has verbally agreed to take on Frank Mir at UFC 111 in what is expected to be an interim heavyweight title match

For the 2nd consecutive year Georges St. Pierre has been named Canadian Athlete of the Year

Miguel Torres is expected to make his return to the cage at WEC 47

Due to Injury Tyson Griffin has pulled out of UFC 108. Another fight hurt on the 108 card, shocking. Sean Sherk will step in for Griffin

Renzo Gracie has signed with UFC and expected to go against Matt Hughes at UFC 112

Former WWE and current TNA wrestler Bobby Lashley signed a multi-year deal with Strikeforce. Lashley will continue to wrestler while pursuing career in MMA

Since Trevor Prangley was a late scratch from his fight with Robbie Lawler for the Strikeforce show this weekend and no replacement could be found Lawler will not be on the show

Just a reminder, 2 shows this Saturday night. WEC 45 will be on Versus Network at 10 pm with the main event Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone against Ed ‘ 9 mm’ Ratcliff. Strikeforce also at 10 pm features former middleweight champion Cung Lee taking on Scott Smith at the top of the card.

That’s in for this week my friends. Enjoy the fights and most importantly enjoy your holidays